App says date/time/location are missing and reporting an incorrect time

Bug Reports
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1

iOS
app V 1.0.0 (159)

When I upload photos shot with the iPhone camera,

  • The time stamp shown in the observation on the app is 7 hours later than when I took the photo.
  • I get an error message indicating that date, time and location are needed so that the image can be identifiable. But the image DOES have this data included.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the app, and it still does this.

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2 Likes
New iNat camera mode stores wrong format in Apple Photos gallery
iNaturalist iPhone app always has the wrong time
Using photos from 3rd party photography app prevents upload until date/time is changed
Observation time is two hours earlier than picture time
2

I’m pretty sure this is because the photo is in RAW format. I can replicate the issue if I try to import a RAW photo. Will make an issue.

3 Likes
3

Yes, I always shoot in raw.
Interesting that this was never a problem for me in the iNat classic app.
Thanks @tiwane for making it an issue!

2 Likes
4

I did some testing with this today to see if if converting the RAW file to a jpeg in my device and then sharing that image to iNaturalist worked, but iNat reads no metadata from the jpeg.

I use iCloud Photos, so my photos are synced to my Mac via the Photos app. If I export the photo from Photos on my Mac as as jpeg and use the web uploader, iNat reads the date/time/location properly.

FWIW I’m also seeing the 7 hour offset, which matches California’s current UTC offset.

1 Like
5

Ah, interesting. I also use iCloud photos, so I’ll export iPhone photos > laptop as part of my workflow until this issue is resolved.

1 Like
6

Just noticed this today too, thanks for the future resolution!

2 Likes
7

I have the same issue but I’m not shooting in RAW. Photos shot with my Canon DSLR are offset by +4 hours. I’m in eastern time zone.

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1 Like
8

Hmm, I think this might be a slightly different issue. How are you getting your photos from your Canon camera to your phone? Are you using Canon’s mobile app? If so, oftentimes these apps can futz with a photo’s metadata when you export them, it’s a pretty consistent issue across multiple camera company apps. Personally when I use my Nikon I use the web uploader on my laptop/desktop.

1 Like
9

I’m also having this issue, iPhone 14 Pro. It seems like photos taken directly from the iNat app are fine, but most photos taken with the regular iPhone camera app and then uploaded to the iNat app have weird time offsets. I also occasionally get the “missing information” error. I can’t figure out what criteria trigger the bug, it seems random. I’ve checked all my time zone settings in the app and my phone, and they’re all accurate. I haven’t tried using the website or old app yet because it’s mildly inconvenient and my ADHD isn’t a fan lol.

1 Like
10

Are you taking photos in RAW format?

1 Like
11

Sorry I missed your reply. I import the photos directly from the SD using an SD card reader that plugs into my iPhone and the default Photos app on iPhone. The issue occurs with my Canon Rebel T3i and my Nikon Coolpix P900. I also get the same issue when I download photos to my phone using the Nikon Coolpix P900 WiFi. This remains an issue as of 10/03/2025.

1 Like
12

+1 here. Please take a look into this, it’s incredibly annoying when I import / create observations from multiple sources, and they end up out of order because of wrong timezones.

Based on my testing, only the RAW images taken on the iPhone are affected, even if they are later converted to JPG.

Testing process for this is straightforward:

  • Take / upload a photo
  • Skip ID step
  • On the New Observation screen, note the date & time

When correct, it should display the local time + the local timezone. But as per the reports, in some cases it shows invalid time / time zone.

I found that the easiest way to test this is to take a photo and then create a new observation with it immediately via iNat. (This way, you’ll immediately see if iNat’s reported time matches your device’s clock or not)

Scenarios I’ve tried:

Valid time / timezone:

  • Photo taken directly via iNat camera
  • non-raw photo taken by iPhone camera, uploaded via iNat
  • RAW photo taken on a separate photo camera, then uploaded to iPhone (still appears as raw on iPhone), uploaded via iNat
  • RAW photo taken on iPhone, then uploaded via old iNat app. So indeed it seems to be the issue only with the new app

Invalid time:

  • RAW photo taken by iPhone camera, uploaded via iNat
  • RAW photo taken by iPhone camera, then converted to JPG uploaded via iNat
  • RAW photo taken by Indigo (3rd party camera app), uploaded via iNat

I’m on iPhone 15 Pro, v 1.0.13 (192) but I recall this issue happening as early as May this year.

13

I wonder if you’re actually running into this issue. What Region is your phone set to, and is your clock set to 12h or 24h display?